Baseball

Matadors Defeated By #6 Cal State Fullerton 8-0

A single through the middle of the infield by Cal State Northridge (14-20, 3-6) shortstop TS Reed in the seventh inning would end up being the lone hit the Matadors would be able to collect off of Cal State Fullerton (22-9, 5-4) starter Tyler Pill as CSUN was defeated by a score of 8-0 Saturday afternoon.

The Matadors now have two days off before facing the Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners this Tuesday in the final game of a four-game homestand before resuming Big West competition next weekend at Long Beach State.

With the exception of a five-run sixth inningby the Titans spearheaded by a three-run home run by right-fielder Khris Davis the Matador’s pitching staff turned in a solid performance of their own as well.

Through the first four innings, Northridge starter Justen Gorski allowed only four hits and struckout four batters in his first start of the season.

As the first reliever of the day for CSUN, Davin Tate entered the game with two outs in the sixth inning and allowed only three hits throughout his 2.1 innings on the mound keeping his team within striking distance as the game headed into the later innings.

After falling behind in Friday’s game, Northridge ended up scoring four runs to decrease the Titan advantage at that time to two runs. Having already erased a number of leads held by their opponents at various times throughout the season, Tate preserved his team’s chance of winning the game as only one solid scoring opportunity would be enough to begin the process of whittling away the Titan’s lead.

But that one scoring opportunity would never come to fruition as Titan starter Tyler Pill would go the distance without giving up another hit. As potent as the Matador bats have been all season long, Pill found the necessary recipe of pitches needed to prevent CSUN’s line-up from creating the string of hits and momentum necessary to take command of the game.

After the Titans added another three runs in the ninth, Matador reliever Jimmy Jolicoeur was successfully able to close out the Titan half of the inning, allowing only one hit in the process.

The Matadors were able to draw a leadoff walk as centerfielder Jeff Pruitt fought his way to earn the free pass to first base, but that would be as far as he would go as the next three batters were retired in order to end the game.

Cal State Northridge will close out their home-stand on Tuesday afternoon as the Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners will make their inaugural trip to Matador Field. Dave Caldwell will broadcast the game live from Northridge; fans can listen to his play-by-play broadcast or follow all the action on GameTracker online by visiting www.GoMatadors.com. First pitch is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.